Making Bridges
A Reflection on Golden Hour: California Photography from LACMA
Majestic ocean views, surfers at sea, swaying palm trees, celebrity stars embedded along Hollywood Boulevard – those are the images that have come to identify California. Such glamorous scenes, however, don’t exist in Golden Hour: California Photography from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), an exhibition that was on view at the Vincent Price Art Museum (VPAM) between October 16, 2021 and February 5, 2022. “My big challenge in organizing this exhibition was trying to create a California photography show that wasn’t exactly the same as every other show you’ve seen,” said curator Eve Schillo, who instead placed the themes of landscape, history, representation, and dystopia at center stage. Featuring a wide range of photographic and experimental video styles from over 70 artists, the work spans from the early 1900s to the present day. Schillo uniquely structured the show, giving it form by way of its five “chapters” – Creating California, Losing California, Reimagining California, Representing California, and Remembering California. On paper, more specifically in its catalog booklet form, the exhibition is orderly. Curatorially, it’s open-ended and becomes, as Schillo described, “much more porous in the exhibition space,” diminishing a linear narrative, and ensuring that “the artists live free of any super structures.” The exhibition was part of Local Access, a series of American art exhibitions created through a multi-year, multi-institutional partnership formed by LACMA as part of the Art Bridges Initiative. In addition to VPAM, the exhibition traveled to the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster, the Riverside Art Museum, and the California State University, Northridge, Art Galleries.
A residency program led by Joseph Valencia, Associate Curator and Programs Manager, invited a small group of artists, educators, and community leaders to develop their own events inspired by the exhibition, expanding its reach into the various communities the museum serves. Jill Smith, a Photography Instructor at ELAC, was able to integrate Golden Hour into her Photo 121 class: History and Appreciation of Photography. In her course, Smith encouraged her students to explore photography through writing, reflection, and their own creative image making. Perfectly in conjunction with Golden Hour, she tasked students to visit and walk through the show. Then, based on their knowledge from class lessons, students wrote about one artwork that struck a chord in them. This assignment “allowed students to experience art in-person rather than viewing it as a projection on a screen or in a book,” and gave them the opportunity for a deeper connection — between viewer, art work, and artist. Smith believes that “identification is really important; to see work that’s in a museum, that’s created in their home state where they’re living gives [students] this idea that [they] could do it too.”
Photographer Star Montana took her own route in response to Golden Hour and organized “Reimagining Group Critique,” an online community forum that invited photographers of all ages and levels to submit their completed or work-in-progress projects to be shared and discussed as a group. I offer my own reflections as a participant in Montana’s event. It was a gloomy Saturday afternoon in late January 2022 and I still vividly remember logging onto Zoom, my stomach filled with butterflies, not quite knowing what to expect. Montana and Valencia established a safe and empowering space for a group of 25 artists to share our personal art. As a recent undergraduate whose Senior Year was greatly defined by “Zoom school” and transforming my bedroom into a make-shift studio, much time had passed since I last contributed to a group photo discussion. Although nervous and a bit timid, I was excited and eager to share that time with fellow passionate creators. The lines between professionals and hobbyists were blurred. Nestled safely in our Zoom squares, we each presented our body of images, one by one, welcoming positive affirmations and ways to further challenge our photos and artistic practice. For those who may be familiar with technical school and formal art school pedagogies, many a time, there is a pressure for students to create new works with the intention of mastering their craft or accomplishing a project. While this practice isn’t necessarily wrong, it can be harmful to the intimate process of freely creating and questioning that all emerging artists should be able to do. In a conversation where Montana shared her personal reflections on this group experience, she said that “sometimes, [we] don’t want to be destroyed, [we] just want to experiment and figure something out,” which, I believe, is a nod to the respectful and non-judgmental cyberspace we shared. The event, originally scheduled for 90 minutes, lasted nearly four hours, with each participant having ample time to discuss their work and engage with the others in the Zoom room.
The final program, a community photography archive initiative, was organized by Florante Ibañez, Filipino American activist, educator, and local documentarian. Initially meant to be an event at VPAM for Fil-Ams to bring in their family and/or historical photos for scanning and sharing, it was best decided to rework that idea and give it new life in a web format. The online gallery comprises 90 images that Southern California community members have contributed to. Ibañez explained,
“What we chose to do was actually try and take an aspect of our perspective on the Filipino American and try to bring that perspective to also, ‘How do we view California?’ What are some of the stories behind some of the pictures that we have?”
Merging stories of Pandarayuhan (“migration”) and Kasaysayan (“early histories”), Pamilya (“family”), Aktibismo (“activism”), and images of Expresyon Pangkultura (“cultural expression”), these historical photographs live on to honor and uplift the Filipino diaspora. We hope you get a chance to visit our time capsule here!